House of Exposures
by YouSentMeFlying
Summary: "But what do I know? I'm just a stupid player who would break your heart. Right?"


**So this is my attempt at trying to write something happy. Normally my writing style is dark and depressing, so it's a bit of a first for me. **

The group of the eight Cornwall students sat surrounded around the breakfast table. Fabian and Nina were at the end of the table, their heads together as they whispered to themselves secretly; Jerome and Alfie were having a cereal battle, while Patricia was hounding them to knock off their childish games. Mara was hiding behind a French novel, and Joy had her eyes locked on Fabian as always; Amber adjusted her makeup in the reflection of a compact mirror.

Patricia huffed and leaned back in her chair – did Alfie and Jerome have to do this every morning before school? It was starting to get rather old. "They're so annoying, aren't they?" she complained, looking over at her best friend, scoffing when she noticed she was gazing at Fabian once again. To think Patricia was beginning to believe Joy had dropped this idiotic crush she's had for so long – Fabian was obviously paying all of his attention toward Nina. And he was so awkward around girls that he should give them up completely. If Amber couldn't help him out at least a little bit, then he was ruined. "Joy!" Patricia waved a hand in front of Joy's face, finally snapping her out of the trance she was in. "He fancies someone else," she told her quietly. "You might as well just let it go."

"You're right," she sighed, facing herself away from the laughing couple that was sitting inches away from her. "I'm trying, but it's so hard." Joy looked away from her and let out a heavenly sigh. "Fabian is just so beautiful. I mean that gorgeous soft hair. I can't help but want to run my fingers through it."

"Gag."

"Why do I always have to come second to Nina?" Patricia rolled her eyes. She loved Joy to death, but she was starting to get a little irritated by her selfish whining all the time about Nina and Fabian spending too much time together. They were best friends; they were a couple, they're supposed to be around each other often. It was just as old as Jerome and Alfie throwing cereal at each other every morning. And if they kept that up, the both of them were going to end up wearing the liter of milk that was sitting half an inch away from her; she was so tempted.

Eddie entered the dining area, shoving the last bite of a blueberry muffin into his mouth, eyeing the table that was covered in breakfast food. Coming to this school was a calling for him considering how much he enjoyed food. "Yum, egg omelet." He reached over the table to grab the glass plate that sat in front of Patricia.

"Hey!" she shouted. "That's my breakfast!" she crossed her arms over her chest. "I was going to eat that, you weasel!"

"Oh hey, yacker; didn't see you sitting there." Eddie smirked before taking a large bite of the omelet. He admitted that he was a jerk to just about everyone, Patricia getting the worst of it, but it was the only way he knew how to get her attention. He smiled in satisfaction, the eggs from the omelet slipping through the cracks of his white teeth. "That's a good omelet."

Patricia groaned, annoyed. "Do you ever stop eating?"

"Nope," he half laughed and sat in the chair next to her. After that kiss the other night, things only got more awkward between the two of them. The only reason Patricia made the move was to get him to shut up about her hating him; she didn't regret it, but she wished it would have ended up differently. It's like things changed for the worst after that. "So, you're not going to be nice to me today?"

"Hard to be nice to someone with a face like yours."

Eddie smiled smugly, sinking his teeth into the egg omelet again. "You can't deny what happened Friday night. After all, _you _were the one who kissed _me. _My face must be pretty good looking."

Patricia sucked her teeth, everyone at the table growing silent to stare at the two as they continued to bicker back and forth. Everyone except Joy had thought they hated each other; it was pretty exciting to hear the actual truth coming out. Just one more couple in the house to tease nonstop.

Amber shut her mirror, gasping at Eddie's remark. "Peddie is happening? Yay! I knew it."

Patricia huffed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Yes, I kissed Eddie, alright? I lost my voice, and he kept yelling at me; he thought I was ignoring him. I did it so he didn't think I was a total jerk."

"That's not what you told me," Joy jumped in.

"Joy!" She snapped, her face growing red from both anger and embarrassment. Why was Eddie doing this to her?

Alfie laughed comically. "This is better than a soap opera."

Patricia shook her head, shoving her chair back from the table, rising to her feet, and running out of the dining room without looking back. She was embarrassed, obviously; why did she have to be so shy when it came to liking guys? Maybe it was the fact of her being extremely insecure, and believing they would use her to make a fool out of her. Patricia didn't think she was a girl guys would be into; she saw herself being below average. And she didn't see any guys throwing themselves from the rafters after her like everyone at the school seemed to do with Amber.

"Better go after your girl," Fabian told Eddie, winking over at him. "Just be a gentleman and you'll be fine."

Eddie stood up from the table, taking another bite from the omelet before chasing after Patricia up the stairs, leaving the rest of the kids alone at the breakfast table.

"Since when are you the expert on girls, Fabian?" Amber joked.

xxx

Eddie hesitantly rapped his fingers against Patricia's bedroom door, not bothering to wait for a response before he pushed it open and peeked in. For once, he actually felt bad; he shouldn't have said anything in front of her friends without talking to her about the situation in private first. He made a huge mistake this time; Eddie had always let his mouth do the talking before his brain had the chance to process his thoughts and words. The way his life was growing up, he didn't know if he could change the way he was or not – no one cared about him as a kid so this whole time he figured he wouldn't care about anyone either. But that's where he handled it entirely wrong.

"What do you want?" Patricia groaned, wiping away some of the tears that had escaped down her cheeks. She was sitting at the end of her bed, picking at a loose thread on her jacket while looking down at her feet. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment, especially if it was Eddie; all she wanted to do was skip school today, pretend to be sick, and take turns sulking and sleeping her day away. That's the only way she ever knew how to go about solving her problems. Eventually the pain would disappear and she would be herself again.

Eddie shuffled his shoes against the floor annoyingly as he made his way over to sit next to her on the bed. He wasn't too good at apologies, but he honestly couldn't stand Patricia being mad at him for any reason. He liked her more than any girl, and he's said that a lot, being the player he was, but he wasn't lying to himself this time. That kiss on Friday… there was something there; a spark. It wasn't just two lips connecting and getting absolutely no feeling out of it like with all those other girls he's been with – this time, it was real. He looked up at her and sighed heavily. "I'm an idiot," he admitted, trying to take her hand.

She smacked his hand away and closed her eyes. "I know. Which is why you need to leave me alone before you make thing worse."

"I'm trying to apologize here."

"Well I don't want to hear it." she stood up from the bed and walked over to the window, stripping herself of her jacket and loosening her uniform tie. Just outside, the rest of the Anubis house was exiting the front entrance, Jerome and Alfie shoving each other around like a bunch of kids. Nina and Fabian were in front of the two, his arm around her shoulder as they walked in harmony with each other, smiling and laughing together. She wanted what they had; she wanted to know what it was like to feel happy; be in love. That's all she wanted, but her temper had to go and ruin her chance.

"You're so stubborn!" Eddie almost yelled, jumping up to his feet and spinning her around to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to admit that this is both of our faults for hurting each other! _I'm _the one taking all the blame this time, and you can't appreciate that?" he scoffed. "What was I thinking? Liking a girl who is so afraid of taking risks…"

"I take plenty of risks!"

He smiled sarcastically. "Like wearing more makeup to make yourself look extra gorgeous a week after I transferred here?"

"No," she argued. Honestly, she didn't think guys noticed the little things girls did to catch their attention; any other of the boys in the house would have told her to get the clown makeup off of her face before it stained her skin.

Eddie shook his head and took a step closer toward her. "A real risk would be the complete opposite, you know? I've seen you without any makeup at all. That's when you look your best." He sighed sadly. "But what do I know? I'm just a stupid player who would break your heart. Right?"

"I never said that."

"So what's holding us back? What are you so afraid of, Patricia?"

Everything. She was afraid of everything. She didn't know how to hold a relationship, and she didn't know if she would do anything right. She was scared of falling in love, and not being able to let go when it came down to it. And if the two of them became serious, when would they see each other when school let out? She lived miles away from him; it wouldn't be the proper relationship she deserved if they continued seeing each other long distance. She quickly leaned up, touching her lips to his cheek softly before breaking away almost immediately. She was ready to do this; if anything went wrong between them, they would just have to work it out like mature adults. "Fine," she smiled. "But you're taking me out on a proper date. There's a movie playing that I want to see; say, tonight after homework?"

"I knew you'd come to your senses." He smirked.

**I tried? =/** **I have no excuse as to why this is so horrible, only that I'm a sucky writer and I should have made an outline before writing this. Oh well. ;P let me know what you think anyway?**


End file.
